(1) Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a shredded tobacco leaf pellet, a production process thereof and a cigarette-like snuff using the pellet, and more specifically to a shredded tobacco leaf pellet obtained by shaping conventional cigarette shreds (i.e., shredded, cut, pulverized or ground tobacco leaves) with a resin binder while retaining air permeability, a production process thereof and a cigarette-like snuff making use of the pellet. The cigarette-shaped snuff is a smokeless cigarette which does not give unpleasant feeling or adverse influence such as smoke, offensive odor and/or ash to those around its inhaler and moreover does not substantially impair the health of its inhaler himself.
The term "shredded tobacco leaf pellet" as used herein means a pellet of tobacco leaf shreds. The word "pellet" should be interpreted in a broad sense so that the shredded tobacco leaf pellet may not be limited to any particular shape. Similarly, the term "shred" as used herein should not be interpreted to imply any particular shape or size for shredded tobacco leaves. Tobacco leaf shreds may hence be of any shape and any size so long as they can fulfill objects of this invention to be described subsequently.
(2) Description of the Prior Art:
Tobacco has been consumed in great quantity for many years. It is however accompanied by a problem that its smoke, odor, ash and the like give unpleasant feeling to nearby non-smokers. Tobacco is also a potential fire hazard because it always requires lighting. A further problem has come to the surface that the health of smokers is adversely affected by inhalation of carbon monoxide and tar which occur upon combustion of tobacco leaves.
As a method for overcoming the above-mentioned problems of tobacco and still drawing satisfaction from habitual or regular smokers, peppermint pipes and the like have conventionally been known as one kind of snuffs. These peppermint pipes and the like however do not contain inherent and essential components of tobacco and cannot hence give feeling of smoking. For these reasons, they have not been accepted widely.
On the other hand, substitute cigarettes (for example, "Flavor", trade name for substitute cigarettes produced in U.S.A.) have also been known. They are produced by extracting and purifying nicotine which is a principal component of tobacco, causing a suitable carrier to bear nicotine and then inserting and holding in a tip portion of a cigarette-shaped hollow cylinder, so that nicotine can be inhaled little by little upon inhalation.
The above substitute cigarettes do not require lighting and do not give off any smoke. They have hence solved most of the problems of conventional cigarettes, while still giving feeling of smoking very close to conventional cigarettes. They are however insufficient in other trace components, aroma and the like of tobacco. They have hence not been able to substitute fully for conventional cigarettes.
It has hence been desired to develop a smokeless tobacco or cigarette which does not require lighting and can give stimulative or sedative effects similar to conventional tobacco or cigarettes without smoke and ash.